Soft contact lens wearers lax with hygiene

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 16 (UPI) -- A large percentage of soft contact lens wearers don't do a good job of following lens hygiene and replacement protocol, U.S. surveys indicate.

Sheila Hickson-Curran, director of medical affairs at VISTAKON, a division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., who co-authored a report on the survey findings, says by not following instructions, contact lens wearers are more likely to experience discomfort and may put themselves at greater risk for infection or other serious complications, such as microbial keratitis.

"How patients comply during each step of contact lens wear and care has a well-documented impact on the rate of complications," Hickson-Curran says in a statement. "Each step of non-compliance that results in no ill effects only reinforces poor behavior because nothing bad happens."

The first survey consisted of a random sample of 645 frequent replacement contact lens wearers who answered questions, while the second survey was distributed to a random sample of 787 frequent replacement contact lens wearers who answered questions relating to lens disinfection, hygiene and replacement of the lens storage case.

Forty-four percent of the respondents ages 12-39 say they do not wash their hands with soap prior to contact lens insertion in the morning and 49 do not wash their hands before removing their contacts in the evening.

Just 25 percent say they rub their lenses with disinfecting solution in morning, 25 percent in evening.

The findings are scheduled to be published in Contact Lens & Anterior Eye.